


stepping on legos

by chai_lattes



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: CAN I GET A H E L L Y E A H, FOUND FAMILY DYNAMICS CAN I GET A HELL YEAH, Fix-It, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Infinity War spoilers, M/M, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Science Family, infinity war robbed me of all my emotions so i wrote this to bring myself back to life.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-28
Updated: 2018-04-28
Packaged: 2019-04-28 20:06:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14456754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chai_lattes/pseuds/chai_lattes
Summary: “Tony? Pete?” Bruce asked. “It’s like four in the morning...What are you two doing up?”“What does it look like? Watching Disney movies.” Tony said with a raised eyebrow. “You coming, Brucie bear?”or, peter has nightmares, tony is a good dad, and bruce is a good influence.





	stepping on legos

**Author's Note:**

> SPOILERS FOR INFINITY WAR!  
> infinity war destroyed my soul!! why do i have to wait for TWENTY NINETEEN FOR ALL THAT TO BE RESOLVED!!!!!!!!! SO NO ONE CAN STOP ME FROM WRITING MY SELF INDULGENT PETER PARKER AND HIS SCIENCE DADS FICS!!! NOTHING AND NO ONE!

“ _ Ow,  _ fuck.  _ Jesus _ .” 

“Boss, would you like me to turn the lights on?”

“ _ Yes _ , FRIDAY why didn’t you just turn them on in the first place?” Tony cursed as the lights went up to reveal a floor strewn with Legos. One of which he’d stepped right on top of. 

“Dammit, Peter.” Tony muttered, bending down to pick up the red block and clearing a path through the Lego-filled hallway, making a mental note to tell Peter to clean up after himself in the morning.

It wasn’t just Legos, for the past few months, the compound had been slowly gathering all the telltale signs of life of a teenager. The countertops in the kitchen started growing stacks of homework and textbooks, Peter’s t shirts have gotten mixed into the laundry, the contents in the fridge doubled to keep up with a superpowered teenage boy’s appetite, Peter’s backpack was always thrown carelessly on the ground when he arrived on Friday nights, and Tony spent all weekend tripping on it.

This was their tradition, ever since they defeated Thanos and the world had started getting back to normal. As normal as it could, following the end of the world. Tony had moved back to the tower and Peter would stay over on weekends. To train with the others, beat Thor and Sam at Mario Kart, and work in the lab alongside Bruce and Tony. 

Tony said it was because Peter was an Avenger now, but the truth was, it was hard to let the kid out of his sight these days.

As he picked his way through the room, dodging legos and intent on crawling into his bed and passing out, he heard a lump of blankets on the couch let out a whimper.

“Peter?” Tony whispered, approaching the couch and pulling the blankets away.

The teenager’s brow was furrowed, even in sleep, and he twitched violently every few seconds, Tony’s heart sank. 

“Come on, kiddo.” He reached out and shook Peter’s shoulder gently. “It’s just a dream, Pete. Wake up.”

“Don’t wanna go,” The kid mumbled. “Mr. Stark-”

“ _ Peter _ !”

Peter jolted awake with a gasp and reached out to clutch at Tony’s shirt, eyes wide.

“I don’t wanna go!”

“Hey, hey, hey-” Tony said, holding his hands up to calm Peter down like a startled animal. “It’s okay, Peter. You’re not going anywhere. I’ve got you.”

“Tony?” Peter asked, rubbing his eyes and squinting up at him. “Wh- what time is it?”

“Late. Actually, at this point I think it’s technically considered early. Why aren’t you in bed?”

“Why aren’t  _ you _ in bed?” Peter countered, but Tony fixed him with a  _ look _ (he was getting better and better at the dad  _ look _ , he learned) and he sighed. “I was trying to stay up. I didn’t want to fall asleep and...you know.”

“Scoot over, kid.” The teenager moved over a bit to let Tony sit on the couch beside him but then stretched his legs out across Tony’s lap. 

“I keep having nightmares about-” Peter started, but buried his head in the pillows when he couldn’t talk anymore.

“They’re just dreams kid.” Tony said, but the words felt like dust in his mouth. “It was just a dream.”

They weren’t just dreams, they were now, but he knew what Peter dreamt of. Because now the familiar horrors of Tony’s dreams were joined by a new nightmare that eclipsed all the rest.

Peter died.

He’d come back, but he  _ died _ . He’d died in Tony’s arms, scared and confused and just a kid, all the while Tony was helpless to do anything. 

Peter, seeming to sense Tony’s distress or maybe just seeking comfort for his own, leaned into Tony’s side and rested his head on his shoulder. 

“It’s not your fault, you know.” Peter whispered.

“Kid-”

“No, it’s not.  _ I  _ went up after you and the wizard. That was my idea. It was Thanos that turned everyone into dust. You- you  _ saved _ me. You were the one that brought me back. D- Tony, without you I’d still be...dust.”

“Wait,” Tony interrupted and turned to raise an eyebrow at Peter. “What did you just say?”

“Uh, that you saved me-”

“No, after that.” Tony smirked. “Did you almost call me  _ da- _ ”

“ _ Nope _ .” Peter squeaked and flushed bright red. “I don’t, uh, think that I said- uh. You know what,  _ Tony _ , can we watch a movie? I really wanna watch a movie right now.”

“Sure thing, son.”

“ _ Tony _ .” Peter whined and Tony laughed, ruffling his hair. 

“Alright, Pete. What do you want to watch?”

 

The two of them were twenty minutes into The Incredibles when a light went on in the hallway outside and a tired looking Bruce padded up to the couch with rumpled hair and pajamas. 

“Tony? Pete?” Bruce asked. “What are you two doing up?”

“What does it look like? Watching Disney movies.” Tony said with a raised eyebrow. “You coming, Brucie bear?”

Peter poked his head up over the couch; Tony couldn’t see, but he was sure that Peter fixed Bruce with his puppy dog eyes that both of them always fell for, because Bruce sighed and crossed the living room. He squeezed on the other side of Tony on the couch and leaned in for a quick kiss. Tony slung his other arm around Bruce’s shoulders.

“Tony, you’re such a bad influence.” Bruce rolled his eyes and poked Tony in the ribs. “Living with you is making us both nocturnal.”

“I’m  _ supposed _ to be nocturnal,” Peter complained. “I’m a teenager!”

“No, Pete. You’re supposed to get 9 and a half hours.” The scientist replied.

“I don’t  _ wanna _ sleep.” Peter muttered under his breath. “I don’t want to have to see all that  _ again _ .”

“Oh, kid.” Bruce sighed and reached around Tony to run a comforting hand through Peter’s hair. “You’re safe now. We promise.”

“The doctor’s right, Pete.” Tony said as the teenager yawned. “We’re right here. I’m always gonna be here for you, kiddo.”

They had all piled onto one of the smallest couches in the room, one that probably wasn’t meant to hold three people. Tony was practically being crushed by his kid and his boyfriend, but it was the happiest he’d been in a long time.

Eventually, Peter drifted off, drooling a little bit on Tony’s shoulder. Looking at the kid sleeping so peacefully at  _ last _ made Tony’s heart swell; he pulled the blanket up to Peter’s chin and softly kissed the top of his head.

When he looked back at Bruce, the other man was smiling.

“Being a dad looks good on you.” He said quietly, looking over at Peter. 

“I’m not -I’m not  _ that _ . All I can hope for is to not...fuck up his life any more than I already have.”

“No.” Bruce grabbed Tony’s hand. “That’s not it. You’re not fucking up his life.”

“I  _ am  _ though.” Tony sighed. “No, seriously, since meeting me this kid’s had nothing but near death - and  _ death - _ experiences. I’m just keeping him around because I’m  _ selfish _ .”

“Tony-”

“No. Seriously. Name  _ one _ good thing I’ve done for this kid.”

“Well,” Bruce chuckled softly. “I can name  _ plenty _ , but to start with...you gave him a family.”

“He already has a family, Bruce. A  _ real _ one.”

“Of course he has May - he’ll always have her.” Bruce said, tangling his fingers with Tony’s. “But you’re a dumbass if you think you’re not his family now. And thanks to you he also has Pepper, and Rhodey, and the whole team. And now May has that family, too.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. Every night Peter’s not here with us he’s with Pepper and May.” Tony snorted, trying to shrug off how much Bruce’s words had touched him. “We’re a weird family. With far too many uncles. Does Loki count? Because I guess Thor is an uncle and Loki is his brother. But I hate Loki.”

“Loki’s not so bad, once you get to know him.” Bruce shrugged and Tony glared at him. “I mean, he’s still a little bad. But that’s not the point. The point is that that kid loves you, Tony.”

“Yeah.” Tony said, smiling at the sleeping kid. “I love him, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> if you could not tell from my previous author's note, i'm running on post infinity war mania because holy shit i can't believe they did that they really made me watch peter die in tony's arms huh?


End file.
